South Indian Inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE MINISTERS AND FEUDATORIES OF THE
VATSAGULMA BRANCH

south by the Aurangābād District (ancient Mūlaka). South of Mūlaka lay Aśmaka (modern Ahmadnagar and Bhir districts). The district obtained its modern name Khāndēsh in much later times¹.

... The royal family described in the present inscription, which rose to power in the second half of the third century A.C., must have first owed allegiance to the Ābhīras who succeeded the Sātavāhanas as an Imperial power in the Deccan². After the fall of the Ābhīras, they seem to have transferred their allegiance to the Vākāṭakas. A fragmentary verse in the adjoining Cave XVI at Ajaṇṭā states that the Vākāṭaka Emperor Harishēṇa either raided or exacted tribute from Trikūṭa, which comprised the territory round Nāsik. Khāndēsh which lay between Vidarbha and Trikūṭa must have likewise submitted to the Vākāṭakas. In fact, the present inscription mentions the Vākāṭaka Emperor Harishēṇa in a manner which indicates that he was the lord paramount of this royal family. The Daśakumāracharita gives in the eight Uchchhvāsa, a narrative which seems to have had a historical basis³. As shown elsewhere, it reflects the last period of Vākāṭaka rule, viz., the reign of Harishēṇa’s son. The narrative mentions the ruler of Ṛishīka (modern Khāndēsh where this royal family was reigning) as a feudatory of the Emperor of Vidarbha. This is a further indication that this royal family owned the suzerainty of the Vākāṭakas.

...We have no records of any successors of Kṛishṇadāsa’s son, who, as we have seen, was a contemporary of the Vākāṭaka Emperor Harishṇa. The dynasty appears to have been overthrown by the Kalachuris of Māhishmatī who occupied Northern Mahārāshṭra after the downfall of the Vākāṭakas. Hoards of the silver coins (rūpaks) of Kṛishṇarāja, the founder of the Kalachuri power, have been found both in the Nāsik District⁴ and Berar⁵, which border Khāndēsh on the west and the east respectively. A coin of the same king has recently been reported from Nandurbār in the Khandesh District.

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¹ The present name of Khāndēsh is said to have been given to the district in Musalman times to suit the title Khān conferred on the Faruki kings by Ahmad I of Gujarāt. E.H.D., p. 138.
² The grants of three other kings of Khāndēsh are dated in the Ābhīra era. A.B.O.R.I., Vol. XXV, pp. 98 f. ; C.I.I., Vol. IV, pp. 5-12.
³ Introduction, above, pp. xxxii f.
⁴ The coins of Kṛishṇarāja were discovered at Devlāṇā near Nāsik. Bom. Gaz., Vol. I, pt. ii, P. 13.
⁵ A hoard of 1600 coins was discovered at Dhāmōri in Berar.
⁶ From the impressions supplied by the Government Epigraphist.
⁷ Both Bhagvanlal and Bühler read -मावर्नि., but the akshara preceding मा is certainly द्रु, and there is little doubt that the whole expression was भवद्रुमाशर्नि. The poet has used अशनि again in Verse 12 below.
⁸ Bühler read कर्मणो, but the subscript m of rmma is clear in the facsimile. ⁹ Metre : Vaṁśatha.
¹⁰ Bhagvanlal read नेशा which will hardly suit the context. Bühler read नेन, the preceding akshara is ल. Read नाम्ना जनपालनेन.
¹¹ Metre : Upajāti.
¹² Metre of verse 3-7 : Aupachchhandasika.